A stereological study of the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus in Down syndrome

Karlsen, Anna S.; Korbo, S.; Uylings, H. B. M.; Pakkenberg, Bente

doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2014.08.046

Cited by 26 publications

(27 citation statements)

References 41 publications

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“…One limitation of the current study was the small sample sizes, as is often the case with postmortem studies. However, the pattern of cell loss in all DS brains was very consistent, both in the APn as well as previous structures measured (Karlsen et al, 2014;Karlsen and Pakkenberg, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

“…While the current study focused on the APn, previous studies using the same brains have reported changes in the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus and cortical regions (Karlsen et al, 2014;Karlsen and Pakkenberg, 2011). While the volume of the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus was reduced to a similar extent as the APn (59%), the overall cell loss was less with a 43% reduction in neurons but no changes in glial cells (Karlsen et al, 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

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Striking reduction in neurons and glial cells in anterior thalamic nuclei of older patients with Down’s syndrome

Perry¹,

Pakkenberg²,

Vann³

2018

Preprint

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The anterior thalamic nuclei are important for spatial and episodic memory; however, there is surprisingly little information about how these nuclei are affected in many conditions that present with memory impairments, including Down's syndrome. To assess the status of the anterior thalamic nuclei in Down's syndrome we quantified neurons and glial cells in the brains from four older patients with this condition. There was a striking reduction in the volume of the anterior thalamic nuclei and this appeared to reflect the loss of approximately 70% of neurons. The number of glial cells was also reduced but to a lesser degree than neurons. The anterior thalamic nuclei appear to be particularly sensitive to effects of aging in Down's syndrome and the pathology in this region likely contributes to the memory impairments observed. These findings re-affirm the importance of assessing the status of the anterior thalamic nuclei in conditions where memory impairments have been principally assigned to pathology in the medial temporal lobe.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 83%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 60%

Striking reduction in neurons and glial cells in anterior thalamic nuclei of older patients with Down’s syndrome

Perry¹,

Pakkenberg²,

Vann³

2018

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…The material was based on 10 hemispheres from patients with MSA and 11 hemispheres from neurologically healthy control subjects. The hemispheres have been included in previous studies . Clinical data for patients and control subjects are listed in Table .…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The hemispheres have been included in previous studies. 9,16,18,19 Clinical data for patients and control subjects are listed in Table 1. The clinical data were obtained retrospectively from the medical records of the patients at the Movement Disorders Clinic (Department of Neurology, Bispebjerg-Frederiksberg Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark).…”

Section: Patientsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Changes in the cell population in brain white matter in multiple system atrophy

et al. 2017

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“…A lower sensitivity to detect sharp, painful stimuli may add to explanations for the observed weak tendency in individuals with DS to complain about pain (Smith, 2001). Further, the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus is smaller in adults with DS than in control participants (Karlsen, Korbo, Uylings, & Pakkenberg, 2014): this nucleus is crucial in projecting sensory information to the prefrontal cortex (McFarland & Haber, 2002) and is part of the neural pain systems (Scherder, Sergeant, & Swaab, 2003).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

Quantitative sensory testing of temperature, pain, and touch in adults with Down syndrome

Knegt

Defrin

Schuengel

et al. 2015

Research in Developmental Disabilities

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A B S T R A C TThe spinothalamic pathway mediates sensations of temperature, pain, and touch. These functions seem impaired in children with Down syndrome (DS), but have not been extensively examined in adults. The objective of the present study was to compare the spinothalamic-mediated sensory functions between adults with DS and adults from the general population and to examine in the DS group the relationship between the sensory functions and level of intellectual functioning. Quantitative sensory testing (QST) was performed in 188 adults with DS (mean age 37.5 years) and 142 age-matched control participants (median age 40.5 years). Temperature, pain, and touch were evaluated with tests for cold-warm discrimination, sharp-dull discrimination (pinprick), and tactile threshold, respectively. Level of intellectual functioning was estimated with the Social Functioning Scale for Intellectual Disability (intellectual disability level) and the Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence -Revised (intelligence level). Overall, the difference in spinothalamic-mediated sensory functions between the DS and control groups was not statistically significant. However, DS participants with a lower intelligence level had a statistically significant lower performance on the sharp-dull discrimination test than DS participants with higher intelligence level (adjusted p = .006) and control participants (adjusted p = .017). It was concluded that intellectual functioning level is an important factor to take into account for the assessment of spinothalamic-mediated sensory functioning in adults with DS: a lower level could coincide with impaired sensory functioning, but could also hamper QST assessment. ß

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A stereological study of the mediodorsal thalamic nucleus in Down syndrome

Cited by 26 publications

References 41 publications

Striking reduction in neurons and glial cells in anterior thalamic nuclei of older patients with Down’s syndrome

Striking reduction in neurons and glial cells in anterior thalamic nuclei of older patients with Down’s syndrome

Changes in the cell population in brain white matter in multiple system atrophy

Quantitative sensory testing of temperature, pain, and touch in adults with Down syndrome

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